


Chances

by ardentaislinn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 16:16:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1394101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardentaislinn/pseuds/ardentaislinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A post 3x15 fic, where Regina thinks she's missed her chance with Robin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chances

Regina tripped on a protruding tree root as she made her way to the outlaw’s camp. Did the man really have to be living out in the middle of the forest?

But she had to talk to him. She had to explain why she’d run from him earlier.

He deserved to know. And Regina was starting to think that maybe she had done enough to be worthy of this second chance that had come upon her unawares.

She finally reached the edge of the camp, and saw Robin with his back to her, talking to his friends. She took a moment just to study him from afar through her new-found knowledge. Robin turned and a smile lit up his face. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at a small boy that was running to him with open arms.

Her heart plummeted as she watched Robin swing the boy up into his arms. 

She’d missed her chance.

He had a son. He was probably married, happily, with a family. If she hadn’t been such a coward all those years ago, it might have been hers. Tears burned in her eyes as she was once again reminded that she was never going to get her happy ending.

She left the camp before the tears could fall, not wanting anyone to know she’d been there. She made it all the way to her car before she burst into tears.

_Too late._

If she had needed any proof that she was doomed to be miserable, this was it. She’d been too scared to follow her heart before, and now that she was starting to believe she was ready to follow the right path, he was already out of her reach.

Regina took some deep breaths, trying to control the sobs wracking her body. She didn’t even know the man. She shouldn’t be grieving for what they never had. Never would have. She would just have to focus on getting Henry back, as she always did.

~~~~~

A week later Regina was walking past the park when she saw a familiar boy racing across the grass. Robin’s son looked like he was having a wonderful time. She smiled softly to herself at the thought.

Another boy raced into view, this one even more welcome to her eyes. Henry was playing with the small Hood boy, chasing him around the lawn  
.  
She looked around and saw Emma watching the two boys from a bench. Drawn by the lure of seeing Henry so happy, Regina joined her.

“Robin’s off with Hook and David searching for the witch, so I get Roland for the afternoon,” Emma said by way of explanation. “I thought it would be good for him and Henry to spend some time together, rather than with us boring adults.”

Emma gave her an amused smile, and Regina couldn’t help but return the look.

“Why couldn’t the boy’s mother watch him?” she asked carefully.

Emma glanced at her curiously. “She died, years ago. Soon after Roland was born.”

All the breath whooshed out of Regina as the implications hit her. “Oh,” she managed.

Emma eyed her, but wisely said nothing as Regina tried to piece together her thoughts and feelings.

“I have to go,” she eventually managed absently.

Regina wondered through the town, only half looking for the outlaw. The rest of her was slowly coming to terms with the fact that maybe she wasn’t too late after all.  
Maybe she did have a chance at happiness. The question was, would she take it this time?

_Yes,_ her heart whispered.

Her mind agreed. If she had been so devastated by the idea of losing her opportunity to try this, then she owed it to herself, and him, to take the chance now that it had been returned.

It must have been at least an hour later when, still lost in her thoughts, Regina bumped into a hard male body. She looked up and saw that it was the man that had so consumed her thoughts lately.

“Robin,” she said softly.

He looked down at her with a hesitant smile. “Before you run out on me again, I just wanted to apologise for our last encounter. Had I known that you had such an aversion to whiskey, I never would have offered it to you.” His smile deepened, and Regina realised he was teasing her. And she liked it.

“I’ll admit that whiskey is not my favourite drink. If you offered me wine, I’d be far more inclined to stay.”

Robin’s smile turned into a full-blown grin. “In that case, Your Majesty, I believe I know the perfect place to acquire some.”

He offered her his arm and she took it, smiling all the while.


End file.
